Shallow
by N0XXIS
Summary: My mother says you only get one real love in your life. I met mine when I was six, and his name was Killian Jones. This is our story.
1. Tell Me Something Girl

**A/N: **Hello everyone! My name is Noxxis and this is my first fanfiction...well the first one I've published on here that is, I've wrote several...*cough*

Anyways! Okay, so this fanfic is completely AU...with a couple things from canon being brought over. Most of the ships will be the same, with a select few of my own making their way in. This isn't exactly a no curse type of story, as there is a curse and then another curse. But it's done differently in this story than in canon, so if AU isn't your thing then you might not like this story. I'm rating it M for now, as I do plan on things getting steamier and darker later in. But it's definitely going to be a slow-burn type of situation. I'm going to try and get at least a chapter up every week, but we will see how that goes...I don't really have much else to say other than enjoy!

Oh, and I own nothing except my imagination. The fic is named after the song from A Star is Born, the song in my head while I was writing this. It fits I think.

They say that real love, true love, awakens your soul and sets your heart on fire. Now, I'm not the most knowledgeable about love myself, but that sounds pretty painful to me. My mom says that when you meet your one true love, you know. She didn't say how, which is even more confusing to deal with. The sad part is, I'm pretty sure I met my one true love when I was six.

We'd just moved to a new town, a small one in Maine called Storybrooke. My dad had landed a new job in town as the local veterinarian. My mother was a teacher, so she could work anywhere. I remember the day we moved in as if we'd moved in yesterday. I was outside of our new house attempting to climb the large oak tree in our front yard, which I'd spotted as soon as we'd pulled up into the driveway. I was on the third branch when I heard his voice for the first time.

"Never seen a girl climb a tree like a boy before," His voice called up to me, accented in a way that my six year old brain couldn't place at the time. I looked down to see a boy no older than eight standing at the base of the tree. He had short jet black hair and the bluest eyes I'd ever seen. They looked like they held the ocean inside of them, and I remember immediately thinking that he was pretty, if boys could be pretty.

"Girls can do all sorts of things that boys can do, didn't you know?" I said back to him with a smirk, "Sometimes girls can do them better,"

The boy snorted in disbelief, "Yeah right," He said and rolled his eyes.

I looked back up at the tree for a moment, thinking. It was suddenly very important to me that I proved I was a better tree climber than this kid. I didn't know why it was such a big deal to me, maybe because he was suggesting that girls couldn't do things that boys could, that it wasn't right. But then again, I was six, I probably just wanted to be better for the sake of being better.

"Come up here and prove me right then," I said in a teasing voice.

The boy sighed and placed his hands on his hips, "Fine then,"

The strange boy then proceeded to do exactly that, quickly climbing up the trunk of the tree and standing on the first branch. Determined not to let him show me up, I began climbing again and we continued like this for a few short minutes in silence. But sure enough, we both soon reached the highest branch we could safely stand on, and there we stood across from each other on either side of the trunk. It was a little awkward being up there with a total stranger, but the good thing about being so young was the ability to immediately make friends. I didn't so much care that I knew nothing about this boy, he was a kid just like me so in my mind he had to be safe. The downside to being that young was that I was definitely naive.

"I'm Killian," He said with a small smile, his eyes on mine. There, now he wasn't a stranger right?

"Emma," I said simply, tilting my head to the side slightly as I looked at him. His accent was strange to me, and he was slightly taller than me which I thought was nice. I was taller than all the girls back in Boston. "Where are you from?"

"Where are you from? It's you that just moved not me," He said with a crooked smile.

Frowning up at him, I sighed softly, "Some place called Boston. It was loud and dirty so I didn't like it much. It's much nicer here," I said with a small smile, "Why do you sound different?"

Killian shrugged his shoulders, "My family used to live in London and everyone there talks like this. We moved here two years ago because my dad got a new job at the hospital,"

I watched as he looked up, his eyebrows furrowing for a moment as if he was thinking really hard about something. I wondered what he was thinking about, my eyes never leaving his face. My mother said it wasn't polite to stare at people, but I felt like the only way to really see people for who they were, was to watch them when they didn't realize you were.

"I bet we could go higher if we tried," Killian suddenly said, breaking the silence.

I shook my head and pointed up at the smaller branches, "The branches aren't big enough to hold us, we could get hurt,"

Killian shot me another bright smile, "Just trust me,"

Sighing again, I rolled my eyes as he began to climb farther up the tree. Soon, he was four branches above me, standing carefully on a smaller branch close to the top of the tree. I don't know how he did it, but I knew I had to do it too. He must have been just as determined to be better than me as I was to be better than him. It was maddening, especially to my six year old brain. Part of me wanted to yell at him to stop showing off, and part of me wanted to climb up there with him. I knew which part would win out.

"What are you, scared?" He asked me, looking down at me with a wicked smile on his face, his eyes twinkling in the sunlight. No way was I going to look scared in front of Killlian, but I still couldn't figure out why it was so important to me. All I knew was that I wasn't getting out of the tree until I proved that I could climb just as good as Killian, if not better. Maybe it was because I was the new kid in town and felt I needed to prove myself. Maybe it was the confidence behind Killian's smirk. But whatever the reason, I had to win.

I quickly climbed up just as high as he had, once again standing across from him. Smiling at him confidently, I gripped the tree a little tighter than necessary, not willing to admit that I was slightly unsettled about being up this high. I knew that if I fell, it would hurt me a whole lot. Looking back at him, I smiled in a teasing way, half tempted to stick my tongue out at him.

"Told ya that girls can do things boys can do," I said bluntly.

Killian chuckled softly and shook his head, "You're awful brave for a girl, that's true,"

"Emma!" I heard my mother calling, and I looked down just as she reached the base of the tree. She was looking up at me with her hands on her hips, her blue eyes squinted as she peered up to look at the two of us standing so igh up the tree. "What are you doing? I told you to come inside sp that we can unpack your room,"

I looked back at Killian, "I gotta go," I said sadly. I would much have rathered stay in the tree with Killian, not go unpack my things. But I remembered the last time I didn't listen to my mother, my father had talked to me rather sternly. He'd told me he was disappointed in me, something I always hated hearing from either one of them. I wanted them to be proud of me, not disappointed in me.

Killian simply nodded, "After you lass,"

Once we reached the ground, I grabbed my mother's hand as she held it out to me, looking at Killian as he stood on my right side with my mother on my left. Killian seemed to be looking at me with a curious expression, one I couldn't quite place. But his eyes looked like they were sparkling, which I brushed off as nothing but the sunlight making it seem that way.

"Who's your friend?" My mother asked politely, looking from me to Killian. I looked up at her, realizing that she and Killian actually looked more alike than me and her did. I looked more like my father, but both Killian and my mom had the same dark hair and blue eyes, though my mother's were more sky blue than sea blue.

"Killian Jones," He said and held out his hand, surprising my mother for a moment.

But then she smiled and shook his hand, her eyes warm, "You have very good manners, Killian," She said sweetly, the smile still on her face.

"My dad says it's good form to always be polite," Killian said proudly, puffing his chest out a little as he stood up straighter.

"Your dad sounds like a smart man," My mom said and then looked back down at me, "Come on Emma, we need to unpack. You can play with Killian some other time,"

"Bye, Emma," Killian said with a smile and a wave, his eyes looking as sad as I felt that we couldn't play anymore. I waved back and followed my mom inside, wondering if I would get the chance to be friends with Killian. I was never that good at making friends back in Boston, I had no patience for girly things like dolls and all the girls that lived around us in Boston hadn't wanted to do much else except play dolls. All the boys had been mean, not letting me play with them because I was a girl. Killian seemed different, I was hoping that he was different.

Over the next few months, Killian and I became rather close as friends. He told me all about his time spent in London and showed me around Storybrooke. I met his parents and his older brother Liam, who all seemed very kind as well. But Killian had quickly become one of my absolute favorite people. He would come over every day after school and we would climb the trees around our houses or explore around Storybrooke. We stayed away from the forest at the edge of town, our parents forbidding us to go there by ourselves because we could get hurt or lost. We were still kids after all, no matter how brave or adventurous we were.

It came as a huge surprise a year after we arrived in Storybrooke when Killian told me that he was moving back to London with his mother and Liam. He said that his father had left their family for some young woman he'd met at the bar. He only knew that because that was what his mother had told him. His mother wanted to move them back to England to be close to her family.

"You can't move, you're my only friend," I told him tearfully as we stood outside my house. I didn't want Killian to leave, he was my best friend and the only person I felt I could really count on besides my parents. I couldn't imagine a life without Killian in it, even if we had only known each other a little over a year. We spent every day together, having him suddenly gone would kill me. I was sure of it.

"You'll see me again Emma, I'm sure of it," Killian said with a hopeful smile.

That was the only time since I'd met him that Killian had ever lied to me...


	2. Are You Happy in This Modern World

**A/N: **So I have managed to get two chapters up today! Whew, I probably won't post another chapter until later this week or next week sometime. I've got chapter four and five written already though, so I might just get impatient and post quicker than that, who knows. This chapter is basically just filler to get us from point A to point B, next chapter is when things start heating up storyline wise so watch out. As for the story in itself, remember that I own nothing except my delusions. Please leave a review and let me know what you think. I don't usually do first person stories but this one is just flowing out of me like a waterfall so, who am I to deny my muse?

A lot happened over the next few years. It turned out that Regina, an old rival of my mother's, had cursed our lives shortly before my birth. We were actually from a whole other world called The Enchanted Forest. As if that wasn't enough of a shock, apparently I was also a princess back in that world. My mother, who I'd always known as Mary Margaret, was actually Snow White. Her and my father David ruled an entire kingdom back in The Enchanted Forest, something I couldn't even fathom. When I was twelve my parents broke the curse on our town and took us back to The Enchanted Forest. It was nice and all, and there were perks to being a princess, but it wasn't home. As much as I wanted it to be, if only to please my parents since they seemed so happy to be back, it just didn't feel like home to be. Storybrooke was home, life was simpler there. Plus, Storybrooke was where I'd met Killian, and because of that it would always be special to me.

Our family live in The Enchanted Forest for the next ten years, before Regiona got her second chance at revenge. Shortly after my eighteenth birthday, The Evil Queen as Regina was known in this world, tried once again to curse my parents and all their loyal subjects. I wasn't entirely sure what The Evil Queen had against my mother, but it must have been important to her to curse us twice. This time around, Regina was smarter and placed a border on the town so no one could leave. Anyone that did was hurt in some way, but I still thought she hadn't quite learned from her mistakes. Once again we were all back in Storybrooke, the only difference being that this time, time stopped. We were stripped of our memories and the lives we'd lived until that point and thrust into a town we couldn't leave. It was torture, the worst part being that I was back in Storybrooke but couldn't remember why I'd been itching to get back there so badly in the first place. We all took on our cursed personas for another eight long years, not aging or growing in any way.

I can't tell you how exactly I broke the curse, but I knew I had my son to thank for it. He was the greatest gift to come from the crazy life I had lived so far. Henry was the product of a two year mistake with a man named Neal, who I'd met shortly after my return to Storybrooke. Knowing nothing about him except that he'd caught me red-handed trying to steal his car, because I loved yellow and was being dumb, we fell madly in love quicky and recklessly. But then he played me for a fool and ran off with some young girl he'd met at the local bar, which I wish I could have found ironic if I could remember Killian. But the curse prevented that of course.

After the curse was broken, I found out his real identity. Neal wasn't just Neal, but also Baelfire, who happened to be Rumplestiltskin's son. I only knew of Rumplestiltskin thanks to my parents, they'd told me all about The Dark One and his wicked ways. Our family tree was becoming a tangled web of confusion. But Henry was the light amid a dark tunnel, he was the best parts of me and I loved him more than my own life. When he wasn't with me or my parents after the curse was broken, he was usually with Regina. Henry took it upon himself to rehabilitate Regina into a good person, a hero as he called all of us. He was always the type to see the best in people, no matter how dark their hearts. He believed that everyone could be a hero if given the chance. Needless to say, him and Regina grew rather close over time and it warmed my heart to see Henry really inspiring people to be better versions of themselves.

I now worked for the law in Storybrooke, more specifically as the acting Sheriff. I guess Co-Sheriff would be more accurate though, as my father helped me out a lot in keeping peace in the town. It was a very daunting task, as Rumplestiltskin (or Mr. Gold as he was known in this world) had brought magic to Storybrooke shortly after the curse was broken in order to find his son. It took him all of three seconds as Neal ended up being right under his nose living in Storybrooke. Nobody could leave the town even with the curse broken, there was a barrier on the town line that we couldn't seem to break. It was good to know that no one could find Storybrooke, so nobody would stumble upon a bunch of fairytale creatures living in the modern world. But it did suck in terms of getting space from people you didn't want to see.

Since no one had aged while under the curse, I was just barely over the drinking age and basically running the town with my parents and Regina, who'd kept her position as Mayor of Storybrooke after retiring from her life of relentless revenge against my mother. It had been quiet in the town for the last couple weeks. My father was spending all of his time working on a way to get us back to The Enchanted Forest, something I was pretending to be excited about. Storybrooke would always be home to me, though I could understand why my parents were so eager to go back.

It was currently a sunny day in mid-July, and once again it was quiet in the town as I sat at the desk in the sheriff's station tossing a ball made of rubber bands into the air. Work had been like this for so long now that I was starting to believe nothing crazy would ever happen again, but I knew that was silly. In a town with magic and a bunch of fairytale creatures, something was bound to happen eventually. I felt bad for wishing something would happen. I'd been spending a lot of my free time down at the station, both to help out my dad and escape my mother's incessant questioning about when I would settle down and get married. I think she just wanted another grandchild to spoil.

I didn't want to just get married to some guy because I was getting older, especially if my choices were the men of Storybrooke. Of all the available "suitors" as my mother called them, I couldn't picture a life with any of them. They were all friends of mine to some degree, but there was never anything romantic with any of them. Sure, some of them flirted openly with me from time to time, but it was never a feeling I returned. I'd been burned too badly by Neal, and in doing so had closed my heart off to any sort of romance. Plus, no matter how many years had passed or how hard I tried, I couldn't forget the sea blue eyes that haunted my dreams since Killian had moved away all those years ago. I really wanted to forget about him entirely, especially since I hand't seen or heard from him since I was seven years old. But something prevented me, and his younger self was cropping up in my dreams often over the years. It was maddening, as if fate was determined not to let me let him go.

"Emma, we have a situation," My father's voice said through the walkie-talkie sitting on the desk, pulling me from my thoughts. I internally cheered as I grabbed the small device, glad to finally have something to do.

"What's going on?" I asked him curiously, speaking into the small black box and trying to keep the excitement out of my voice.

"You might want to come down to the docks," David said simply, which made me even more curious. It clearly had to be important, he wouldn't have called me if he could handle it on his own. I stood up quickly and grabbed my keys, twirling them once around my finger as I looked around to make sure I wasn't forgetting anything.

"On my way," I told him before clipping the radio to my belt and walking out to where my yellow bug sat right in front of the sheriff's station.


End file.
